Summary of this article
After TMC’s election defeat, Mamata Banerjee urged party workers to rebuild the organisation and said leaders wanting to leave were free to do so.
The TMC won only 80 of 294 seats, while Banerjee herself lost from Bhabanipur; several senior leaders and ministers were also defeated.
At a Kalighat meeting attended by Abhishek Banerjee, the party reiterated its claim that the people’s mandate had been “looted” and stressed unity amid speculation of defections.
Mamata Banerjee, the leader of the TMC, encouraged its candidates who ran in the most recent assembly elections to rebuild the organisation after the party suffered an electoral defeat, saying that anyone who wanted to leave the party was free to do so.
Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, was present at a meeting with the party's running candidates at her Kalighat home on Friday. She declared that the organisation would return despite a crushing loss in the recent assembly elections.
"Those who are leaving for other parties, let them go. I will rebuild the party afresh. To those who are staying, I say rebuild the damaged party offices, paint them and reopen them. If needed, I too will paint them. Trinamool Congress will never bow down. People's mandate has been looted," Banerjee was quoted as saying by party sources.
The remarks were made just days after a sharp turn of events in the election caused the TMC to be demoted from the ruling party to the opposition benches.
Only 80 of the state's 294 assembly seats were won by the party.
Mamata Banerjee herself suffered defeat in Bhabanipur, long considered her political bastion.
Three seats in the Darjeeling hills were left to its ally Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM), led by Anit Thapa, after the TMC filed candidates in 291 seats. Only 80 of these candidates—including a number of powerful ministers and leaders—were successful, while 211 others lost.
Amidst rumours of internal dissatisfaction and speculation on potential defections following the electoral fiasco, the meeting at Kalighat was called for candidates who had run on the party's ticket.
Banerjee's comments from the day after the results were announced were reiterated in the discussion. The party leader had stated at a press conference on May 5 that she was aware that some leaders would change sides.
"I know many will leave for other parties. They may have their own compulsions. I have nothing to say about that. Whoever wants to go may go. I do not believe in forcibly holding anyone back," she had said.
The TMC's official X handle later posted photographs of the meeting and praised the contesting candidates for their fight during the election campaign.
"Today, our Hon'ble Chairperson @MamataOfficial and our Hon'ble National General Secretary @abhishekaitc met with our contesting candidates at Kalighat. They fought with unmatched courage despite facing unimaginable atrocities and relentless intimidation.
"The Trinamool Congress stands united as one family. We will never bow before those who loot the people's mandate. Truth will prevail," the party posted on X on Friday.
The post also reiterated the party's charge that the electoral mandate had been "stolen", a claim repeatedly raised by TMC leaders after the poll results.
According to party insiders, Banerjee used the gathering to encourage candidates who had run for office and convey a message of solidarity during a challenging time for the organisation.
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